Fate, Why Art Thou Fickle?
by DazedRem
Summary: Mavis Devereaux has always been the feared and beautiful prodigy in her clan on the island they live on.She's been there for five years and now she wants to leave.What happens when she meets up with an old friend who goes back farther than they know?
1. Chapter 1:Reunited Unexpectedly

The Blasphemy Of Blood began nearby. Seven well-dressed bodies were tied to stakes by thorns and barbwire, blood pouring from their constantly reopening wounds. The witches danced around the bodies who screamed for mercy, spouting out nonsense about bribes and such. Underneath them were logs that were to be lit on fire after the rituals were finished. The lower halves of the bodies would be burned while the rest of it would be carved in. Seven privileged members of the clan would then devour the heart of the person before them. Tonight, the members were in their finest clothes in the colors of their elements.

Orange-trimmed red for fire, black on black for darkness, white-trimmed silvery blue for lightning, gold-trimmed white for air, blue and blue for water, brown-trimmed green for earth, and purple-trimmed blue-white for spirit. There were no mages of light here. This was a dark clan full of people who specialized in different things. Only a select few were born with the mage blood. Two siblings who were included in the ritual tonight, were the strongest in the clan.

The members of the clan weren't all related by blood, more or so through ancient treaties between families and marriages but these two siblings, Tyler and Mavis Devereaux, weren't related to anyone in the clan in any way at all. Mavis had decided to come here and Tyler, her older brother, accompanied her. Mavis Devereaux was immediately noticed for her immense beauty with light tan skin, short night black hair, and icy blue eyes with cat-like pupils and silver sprinkled throughout irises that held dark but wispy strokes of black. Her brother Tyler Devereaux was also beautiful with the same dark hair and light eyes. Their skin are the exact same shade and they were close in height when they first came here.

It's been five years since the Devereaux came and Mavis is feared throughout the clan for her immense and incalculable power. Her hair grew out, though no one knows how long it is because she is rarely seen without her cloak, a long, expensive-looking, always clean, black piece of clothing it was, hiding her eyes in the shadow of the hood. The last person who tried to remove the hood was found dead the next day but no one questioned her. She can use all the known elements other than light but mainly specializes in darkness. Mavis knew some light spells as in healing and the such but wasn't very good at things of that sort. Tyler however was capable of light magic but never ventured into it, instead following his area of expertise: Fire

No one could compete with his fire which could change black when combined with his sister's darkness and would become impervious to water magic. Now the two at together, as was custom with the positions of fire and darkness, their robes perfectly fitting onto their toned and slender bodies. Tyler had grown taller and was now a full head taller than his powerful younger sister who's robes were on over her cloak. Cecil Ravenblood, a boy older than Mavis but eternally indebted to her though she never said so herself, came with the ceremonial knife to kneel respectfully with his head bowed behind Mavis on her left, ready to carve out the heart of the victim. Cecil was a spirit user, one of the few in the clan's village, but constantly refused to be the spirit mage in the ceremony that occurred on the seventh day of each month every year.

The seven victims were based on the seven catholic sins and since the Clan fancied themselves and the Neo-Catholics, they offered the hearts of the seven unlucky sinners to the seven powerful users of the elements. Darkness would consume Wrath or also known as Anger. It was always like that and Fire would take the heart of Pride. Another traditional pairing. Tyler himself despised people who committed the sin of Pride. It irritated him to an almost homicidal degree that would easily be tamed by the mere touch of the small, light tan hand of Mavis, the one who was always calm and collected.

Mavis rarely spoke. She didn't speak when she first came and those who claim to have heard her voice say it is the sweetest and most intoxicating thing they have ever heard. The people often expressed how they deeply desired to hear her voice in song, though all the clan members knew that Mavis sung but didn't sing. She had once revealed, in simple nods and gestures, that she had in fact sung before and liked it, but refused, in shakes and more gestures, to sing for anyone. Her name meant _Song-Thrush_ and years ago, in the beginning when people were vigorous in their attempts at making her speak, people would use that on her.

They would often repeat something along the lines of stating the common belief among the clan members: Your name was connected to your fate.

That superstition never bothered Mavis at all. See, the tell-tale sign of a bad mood or anger in Mavis is when her right hand twitches ever so slightly. Everyone in the clan, especially past victims, have trained their eyes to look for this twitch, this almost unnoticeable movement.

Her eyes right now looked glazed and glossy, unseeing though seeing. Cecil's stark white eyes with the lightest hints of lavender and blue flashed to her as the ceremony was picking up and oldest fire mage lit the fires with a mere glance. With a sigh, the blind boy with messy brunette hair began to discreetly nudge her. Tyler glanced at him through the corner of his eye, receiving the look on Cecil's face, a familiar look.

Another thing to Mavis: She fell asleep with her eyes open during important events. It was her thing. No one really knew other than Cecil, Tyler, and a few select people that the clan described to be the "Outcasts In The Affection Of Darkness" referring to how said people were usually outcasts and to Mavis using the Darkness while also harboring an affection for the outcasts.

Mavis's soft, pouty lips parted ever so slightly and her eyes, unseen by anyone but Cecil and Tyler due to the very helpful hood's shadow, were completely glazed, glossy like the glass eyes of a porcelain doll with light tan skin, flawless and fragile looking. However, everyone knew better than to assume that Mavis was frail or fragile. Taunting Mavis would be a fatal mistake as well. Her breathing was steady and her eyelids drooped to a half lidded stare, the blue hues of her eyes seeming to move silkily in the creamy shade they had changed to. Cecil threw a pleading glance to Tyler who sighed and sent a little waking flame on the exposed skin of her bare feet. All of the seven privileged wore no shoes during the ceremony.

Calmly, she sent a death glare in a warning, her right hand twitching a little from its place on her right thigh, also letting the two boys know she was fully awake and a little angry with them for having used fire on her. Cecil was learning to use air, even though he was skilled with spirits and gifted with the ability to see, just as Mavis can, spirits and auras even though in practical terms he was blind. The boy was already picking up well from his also skilled tutor, Mavis, whose best element second to darkness was air. A small cloud of darkness formed around the burn mark, which weren't severe in any way, and began healing it. Mavis was the first and currently the only dark mage who had learned to use the powers of the dark to heal their wounds. Usually, the darkness would only heal its users if the users were in life threatening situations. Mavis, on the other hand, was viewed to be absolutely loved by the powers of darkness. Clan members took this as no surprise of course and neither did Cecil, Tyler, and the other's in the "Affection Of Darkness" see it as unexpected. Tyler had already told the clan in a meeting about Mavis that before she learned to walk, she was already controlling the darkness and being saved by it. That was the only thing the clan was ever let know about the past of the Devereaux siblings. Tyler was easier to get along with as long as he didn't see you as a threat to Mavis or if you were a male advancing on said little sister.

The boy was very protective of Mavis, especially since her beauty was still something people talked of, causing boys from families new to the clan would come running to see her. Not that Mavis ever showed any outward signs of having or even desiring a relationship with others, let alone an intimate one, or to indulge in the carnal pleasures that a partner could offer. Most of the time when approached by people like royalty from far away countries who have heard of her beauty, she would fall asleep and Tyler would answer for her. Mavis never got much sleep during the night, she was always awake and training with the elements, or was reading a book of magic but it was more like her body was trained to be nocturnal. During their travels before coming to the clan, Mavis had trained her body to move with Tyler when it was asleep during the day but at night she was fully awake and on guard. Tyler often awoke to a destination further from where he fell asleep and would find out that Mavis had, in fact, carried him and all their essentials on her back during the night. Sometimes she would check into a hotel, leaving Tyler on a bed before falling asleep under said bed when day time came. Of course, Tyler would wake her up to go running or to exercise with him. During this time, she never wore a cloak like she did now.

Mavis nearly yawned but remained still until the ceremonial bells rung and the drums were hit with large bats. The fire was put out by the same old man who started it and the cutters rushed forward, neatly carving out the still beating hearts of the dying people, killing them of course. Tyler had a cutter who was also in the "Affection Of Darkness" named by Mavis as Aiden. Aiden practiced fire under Tyler and Mavis as his tutors and his named meant 'Born Of Fire' which fit him because he was a half-breed demon with red eyes and messy dirty blonde hair, born from a fire mage and a demon. The powers of fire were handed down to him by his father and his demon blood allowed him to pick up quickly like Cecil did. Cecil is a human and this makes a difference because he can hold his own, like all the others in Mavis's care.

Tyler and Mavis were both demons, but an incident that occurred when Mavis encountered a vampire changed this so she was now a vampire-demon who knew the elements. She still aged and would until her set age, nineteen, when she would end the aging process. Tyler was also immortal as she was, but because of his demon blood. Aiden was eternally grateful to Mavis for saving him from a vampire and for taking care of him, even now. He was younger than her by a year but was taller than her, looking older.

Said blonde came back with the heart on a red plate in unison with Cecil who brought it on the black plate. They kneeled before Tyler and Mavis, holding the plate up with their heads bowed. Mavis and Tyler, also in unison almost like twins, took the plate with a thankful nod and began to devour. However, before Mavis would eat the heart, she made the sign that was tattooed onto her left shoulder of a reversed cross on top of a pentacle and surrounded by roses, though when she made the sing, she left out the roses since that was impossible to show with her fingers. Etched into her skin by a burning knife and then inked over as a tattoo across the horizontal part of the cross, was _'Forever the Cain of Darkness and the Kira of Light.'_ in pretty slanted writing. Kira was how the Japanese would pronounce the English word 'Killer' so the person who had captured her at the time, the vampire who changed her, carved the saying into her skin with a hot, burning knife that steamed the skin and a poison, not at all lethal of course but with the right dosage that prevented the wounds from healing, that came from a rare and exotic place laced the blade.

The vampire had been Japanese and neither Tyler nor Mavis knew his name. Mavis had been little back then. Very young actually, about seven years old, three years before she came to the clan when she was eleven and Tyler was fourteen. Now she is sixteen and Tyler is nineteen years old, both already honored as powerful beings. Now Mavis devoured the heart of wrath, the delicious blood, still warm from life and the fire the victim had been killed in, flowed into her mouth as she bit into it, her fangs piercing the organ instantly. Her eyes acquired a scary looking glow to them and turned gold, an eye color that her eyes changed to sometimes, with the pupils becoming thinner. Cecil walked away to assume his kneeling position behind her where he was before. After the ceremony, the seven members were free to do whatever though it would be looked upon well if they were to stay. Mavis didn't care about this of course and went to her home with Tyler, Cecil, and Aiden, to be greeted at the door by the twin girls Zelene and Selene. Both vampires but thanks to monthly tastes of Mavis's blood, they could walk in the light whenever they pleased. Selene used water while Zelene used earth and both were very skilled with their elements. They were also people who had been saved by Mavis, who now greeted them by returning their embrace before walking away to summon her familiar spirit, Luciano. Luciano used lightning for his element, often attacking from the sky when he flies on long, black wings with the ability to assume physical form due to being a very powerful familiar with an also powerful master to serve.

All familiars can assume at least one or two physical forms but Luciano can assume any form he wishes while other usually appear as animals. He can appear as something on the border line that separates animals and humans. Now, he was in his true form, the form of a Fallen Angel since he was as such with long, jet black wings, the sleek feathers flowing around the room as he kneeled down in a pentacle that hovered above the red carpet floor. His hair was a soft, long, silky black waterfall of night down his back reaching his hips on his slender but muscular frame, thick strands framing his face flowing over his strong shoulders and bangs reaching his chin parted neatly down the middle.

His fierce, cat-like green eyes seemed to glow, the irises lined with silver that also glowed like the hard to see tips of his flack feathers which were silver as well. Luciano, called Ciano for short by Mavis and many others, was tall and lithe with flawless sun-kissed skin, darker than both Mavis and her brother Tyler. He bowed his head before looking back up, "Good Evening Mavis, did you enjoy the Blasphemy Of Blood tonight?", she sighed and shook her head, "I see. What do you wish to do?", Mavis turned her head to look out the window, "Leave."

That was the first word she'd said in a long time. She hadn't spoken in a while, which was normal for her, but now that she spoke, Luciano was reminded of how lovely her sweet voice sounded but then remembered what she said, "Leave? Where?", she shrugged. All of the many clan members all lived on a remote island, unknown to the outside world other than through rumors of a beautiful and powerful mage, thus several people of royalty would call her out. The village leaders would then send her to a nearby island that was known to the world to reply to their requests. Of course, Mavis would always refuse and if she fell asleep, Cecil and Tyler would refuse for her. Always.

During the night when Tyler would sleep, she was sent on nightly missions. She'd come home just before he woke up and would crawl under his bed to sleep, something she did often. It was habit of her's she had carried with her all her life. Whenever they camped outside, on the scarce times when she wouldn't carry him to an inn, she would crawl into his sleeping bag, somehow finding her way to get under him. He would be awake whenever she did this and would just accept it. It was her way of reassuring herself that he was there.

Not that she couldn't sleep alone or was scared to, Mavis was fearless. Mavis just wanted to make sure that she was in range to protect her big brother, since she was more powerful than he was. She liked to be around to protect her brother and her friends which consisted of Aiden, Cecil, Zelene, Selene, Reno, Zero, and Luciano. All of whom felt grateful to her for varied reasons that usually were basically the same when you look past all the details. Luciano sighed and smiled at her as she released the circle, allowing him free movement around the room. Zelene and Selene, with their long chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes glazed in gold, burst in, "Did you talk!?", Zelene was the first to burst out while Selene followed suit, "About leaving!?", they were both very loud, not that it was a necessarily bad thing, and this alerted the others. Aiden, Cecil, Tyler, and the newly returned Reno and Zero, both were male twins and also indebted to Mavis, to the momentous discovery that Mavis had, in fact, spoken.

Luciano sighed as they all burst into the room, pushing over Zelene and Selene. They were all gifted in the ways of the shinobi so they were all over the place, hopping over the railing on the hallway since her room, their ultimate destination, was on the second floor, and jumping over the fallen bodies of the others until they all eventually stumbled, tumbling onto the carpeted floor with several thuds. Mavis watched this with her usual half-lidded stare, awake this time but apathetic and sleepy, until a sigh escaped her soft lips. She removed the bloodied and dirtied robes of tonight before she unzipped her cloak and set it on her bed, revealing her Chinese style kimono dress underneath with the high, stitched collar, short sleeves, long hem with slits from her hips to her mid-calves, the shorts underneath, and the dragon designs that covered the black kimono with red stitching.

She wore matching black gloves with fierce red dragons winding mighty bodies around the strong cloth. A power limiter, fairly strong and one of three, was a silver ring with a rather large ruby, the inside of the ruby inscribed with a reversed cross. On the left side of her dress, a reversed cross stretched along her torso, the horizontal bar of the cross on her slim waist. Mavis sighed and they all gazed at how long her hair had grown. The wondrous waterfall of perfect, straight, soft, silky, night black fell down her back, passing her hips a little and the bangs, a medium length fringe that hung over her eyes, which pierced like two stunningly beautiful blue lights through the night. Her gaze was steady and her long, curling black lashes were coated in flawless mascara while black eyeliner rimmed her eyes perfectly. Somehow, her skin retained its light tan, having gotten darker from the times she and Tyler would venture to some empty place where she would abandon her cloak to run in the sun, tanning a little in the process. She was still the same shade as her brother, both of them looking the same.

Reno and Zero were the last to enter the room. They were less eccentric compared to the others, especially the sisters Zelene and Selene who were their natural enemies in the house, but differed in personality ever so slightly. Reno was perverted most of the time while Zero was more serious and didn't think about perverse things like his brother. Both brothers were hot-headed and sometimes quick to anger, but often were analyzing their surroundings. Zero looked around and sighed in harmony with his brother who whistled, "Why is it that no one _told_ me we were going to have some group fun? I love dog piles.", Reno mused, grinning like a wolf enticing an innocent rabbit. Mavis rolled her eyes before turning to look at the two platinum blonde with their red highlights and deep blue-violet eyes. Flawless sun-kissed, Euro-Hispanic skin.

Zelene was the tomboy whilst her sister, Selene, younger by two minutes, was more girly but not an air-head. Both have caramel skin, flawless as well, from an African mother and a French-Italian father. They were both known to be very helpful, helping around the village., and their very exotic beauty was something people often talked about. In fact, all the people in the "Affection Of Darkness" were very beautiful and talented, causing others to say that Mavis cultivated only beautiful ones. Of course this was a lie. Mavis wasn't purposely targeting beautiful and talented people, it just happened that way.

She just felt an affection for them that had nothing to do with physical appearance. Mavis now sighed as Zelene growled at Reno's comment, "Who would want to screw _you_, the thought of it disgusts me!", she laughed and Zero shook his head, knowing what was ahead, "An who would screw _you_, flat girls.", Reno retorted, also targeting Selene with the insult. Selene glared. It was true that the twin girls weren't as developed as Mavis was, but that gave the girls an innocence and this is what Selene used to reply, "At least people _like_ us! We look _innocent_ unlike you two delinquent brothers.", now she targeted Zero and being called a delinquent pissed him off, "Innocent, my sexy ass!", Reno yelled with a smug look. Zero smirked as well, "Neither of us are delinquents unless you count being sexy a crime, so I guess you _are_ innocent.", they high-fived when the sisters just muttered a 'humph' as they crossed their arms and turned away, mumbling stuff along the lines of "Filthy morons."

Cecil finally spoke up after the bout between the four finished, "Is it true that you spoke Mavis?", he asked, innocent white eyes unseeing but seeing her image through the mind of her puppy, who now crawled onto her lap as she sat on the bed. Mavis looked up, "Yes I did, to Luciano.", the sound of her musical voice silenced everyone until Aiden broke the silence, "Say all of our names. We want to hear you say our names.", he said, which was true. Luciano had liked the sound of her voice speaking his name and the others wanted to hear it. Mavis blinked until Tyler nodded, "Yes and say Aniki!", the boy urged. She shrugged, "Aniki. Reno. Zero. Aiden. Cecil. Zelene. Selene. Luciano.", Mavis said apathetically while they all were happy like kids eating candy on Halloween as they were smiling and talking amongst each other about how awesome it was that Mavis had spoken at all. Luciano and Tyler however stepped out of the conversations to talk to Mavis. Tyler sat on the bed next to her and Luciano allowed his wings to disappear as he sat down on the floor by her, his head resting on her leg.

"I want to leave. Simple. But I want you guys to stay here. Luciano has to follow me anyways since he's my familiar but I want the rest of you to live here without me for a while, promise?", she asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. An awkward silence filled the air as Mavis awaited her answer. Everyone thought about it until Tyler broke the silence, "If we feel that you're in danger, through our mental links, you do know that we'll be there and go against our promises?", he asked softly before adding, "Plus, if Cecil predicts anything, we'll drag you, kicking and screaming, back to us.", Mavis nodded, "I understand.", she said before getting up, grabbing a soft black towel, and walking into her bathroom, starting the shower.

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**Next Day**

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Mavis awoke in her sleeping bag with the smell of food being cooked. She was outside, under a canopy of trees on the edge of a make-shift campsite in a baggy t-shirt and shorts, both of which were black, and no shoes. Her hair was dirty, though still silky and soft, and for a minute, Mavis thought she was traveling with her brother, years ago before joining the clan. Mavis was well-rested from actually sleeping that night while Luciano had carried her over the vast part of the ocean blue that separated the island of their clan from the land of the Buddhists, Shangri-La as it was called. She'd been here before of course, back then she didn't have Luciano as a familiar and it was only her, her brother, and later on her puppy, Isaac, who happened to be part demon, giving him the rare ability to assume either human form or the form of a large wolf that was a little bigger than a car and was capable of carrying several people. Back then, she had met a Sanzo priest at a temple and was completely surprised by his foul mouth, drinking, and smoking. She liked him for being unlike the other priests and before she left, she gave him a bracelet, saying that he wasn't allowed to change his ways or to forget her face.

How he responded was by dragging on his cigarette, blowing a cloud of smoke, and looking at her, then said "I understand.", before sliding it on his wrist. The bracelet was supposed to combine their fates together, though that wasn't her intention. She just wanted him to be her first friend. Isaac in dog form was cuddling up to her legs in the sleeping bag, still asleep. Mavis looked around to see that instead of her brother Tyler, it was Luciano cooking her some stew.

He looked over when he saw that she was awake, "Good morning Mavis. I just thought we'd have a little breakfast before heading over to the town nearby.", Luciano greeted, smiling. She nodded as he handed her a warm bowl as she sat up and exited her sleeping bag to sit on one of the logs that Luciano had brought over to serve as places to sit. Mavis took her seat on one next to the log Luciano was sitting on and ate the stew while conversing with Luciano on their future actions and what to buy when they get into town. All the time she was at the campsite, she had been thinking of the priest, Genjyou Sanzo, while she ate and took a bath in a river Isaac carried her to in wolf form a few miles east.

She sighed and dressed before simply walking back to the camp site, which wasn't too far since she was walking on air. Mavis put on her socks before sliding on her boots and looking down at her bracelet, one matching the obsidian stone one she gave to Sanzo, on the same hand as her power limiter. In a mirror, she checked all her ear piercings. A dangling pentacle on a short chain had a small, circular white back that she slid through the backing of the earring before doing the same for the backing to the reversed cross, black outlined in red, that swayed slightly from a chain a little longer than the right one. A rose stud above a ring in the top of her left ear served as her second power limiter while a her third one was one of the two cuffs on her right ear.

Luciano had already packed everything when she got there and Isaac was napping in human form, a form he felt comfortable in, with a collar around his neck. The little tag said 'Isaac' on it and the collar itself served as a power-limiter for him since he was still a demon. His cheeks had whisker marks on them, the third and last one just around where his upper lip was and he had pierced his right, human ear with a ring which a smaller, thinner ring on it that held a ruby sphere of bright red, which allowed perfect mental contact between him and Mavis over distances. Since he wasn't really a exactly like a human like other demons, he had two sets of ears and a tail that swished sometimes while he slept. Said ears are black with white tips and is pierced near the tip of his right ear.

Isaac woke up upon smelling Mavis's scent, which was strawberries and roses, and smiled at her, his canines like fangs that framed the corners of his rosy lips. His perfect sun-kissed skin went well with his night black and chocolate brown hair that held hints of orange in the sun and white tips at the ends of his messy spikes. In dog and wolf form, he has white paws and white tips on his ears and tail which carried over in his human form minus the white paws but his long, sharp black claws carry on instead. His tail wagged as he sat cross-legged, grinning with his large, multi-colored eyes. Isaac's right eye was golden while his left eye was blue like Mavis and Tyler's eyes, carrying silver and white specks in the irises. When Mavis used an excessive amount of power or was regenerating energy, her left eye would become gold. In fact, whenever she used magic, hard to notice gold edged her eyes and would begin to eat away at the blue until she finished, then the gold would just slowly go away. Isaac grinned wider as she pet him.

"Hey Mavis!", he said and hugged her fiercely with the vigor only a dog could muster. Luciano shot him a disapproving glance before picking up the big bag that held Mavis's sleeping bag and the one he used when he wanted to along with their supplies, money, and food. If they ran out of money, Luciano decided that he would return to the clan's island and take the money. Mavis just said that they could use credit. Isaac on the other hand, didn't really care about money. Besides, they would only have to pay for a single bedroom since Isaac could turn into a puppy and Luciano was a familiar spirit that could go invisible whenever he wanted or when Mavis told him to. This way they saved money and not take up too much space. The ring in Isaac's dog ear allowed him to see Luciano when he was invisible like Mavis could since she was his master.

Mavis picked up a different cloak, a looser cloak that wasn't form-fitting to the torso like her usual one, which was black with a chain on either side of the bottom of the hood connecting, belt loops to hold a black studded belt, and long sleeves that had zippers at the shoulders so that she could take the sleeves off when she got hot or didn't want them. She tied her long hair back with a ribbon then put on a black hospital mask over the lower half of her face, careful with her earrings as she pulled the elastic straps behind her ears, and shrugged into her cloak, buckling the belt and zipping up the torso, the rest of the cloak flowing closed without a zipper.

After Mavis finished, the three began to walk, idly talking about random things while Mavis still couldn't get the thought of Sanzo out of her mind, and took her randomly remembering Sanzo and thinking about him as a sign that she may see him soon. She believed in fate, though maybe not all of the superstitions of the clan she had left behind, and wondered if their fates were entwined.

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**With The Sanzo Party**

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Sanzo sneezed as he sat in the passenger's seat of the green jeep, Hakuryu, a dragon who turned into the aforementioned jeep they were in, while Hakkai, the owner of Hakuryu and possibly only person in the jeep who was even remotely sane though the way he smiled all the time was getting kind of creepy, drove while humming to himself, seemingly oblivious to the loud fighting in the back where Gojyo and Goku were having one of their famous arguments. The usual of course.

"Every time you sneeze someone's either thinking or talking about you.", Hakkai said cheerfully, receiving a grunt in reply which was barely audible due to the bickering in the back, "Ero Kappa! At least I don't look like a cockroach!", Goku yelled, "Baka Saru! Least _I_ don't whine like a bitch about food all the time!", Gojyo replied. They were both standing up, "What'd you say!?", they both yelled, holding each other's shirt collars.

"Now now you two…standing up in the jeep is dangerous…..", Hakkai said, "Try to calm down…", he glanced at the vein showing in the priest's forehead, "Uh…Sanzo…", he tried to keep the angry blonde from trying to kill the two in the back but wasn't as lucky. Sanzo stood up and shot his gun in the space between them, sending them sprawling away from each other and falling their seats.

"Shut the fuck up or I'll shut both of you up myself!!", he threatened. The long sleeve of his yellow robes slid down his arm a little as he pointed the gun where he had shot only moments before and revealed a simple bracelet of polished obsidian on a stretchy black rope, usually used for bracelets like that, that ran as a thin chain through the slightly jagged stones to connect them together. Hakkai had never noticed it before and Gojyo brought up aloud what Hakkai had begun wondering.

"Hey is that a friendship bracelet Sanzo?", he asked then smirked, "So, who's the lady you've been hiding away, droopy eyes? She's pretty cute isn't she?", he asked. Sanzo glared back at him, pissed off that he was pretty close to the truth about the bracelet. The half-breed continued to urge him for more details until Sanzo crossed his arms, sitting in his seat. Hakkai glanced in the corner of his eye Sanzo staring down at his wrist, a sad, remorseful look of reverie in his droopy violet eyes. It was a look no one had seen before and that shocked Hakkai, though he said nothing and kept driving.

The town came into view so they stopped in the back, letting Hakuryu change back into a dragon that perched on Hakkai's shoulder before walking around the front into the lobby. Hakkai walked over with his cheery smile and checked the four in under Sanzo's name. Sanzo glared at him for this but walked up to the room with them, leaving their things in the room. Later, they play poker to figure out who got what bed, as usual. In the room, Sanzo took a warm shower, still staring at the bracelet around his wrist. It was always with him, in his pockets if not wearing it, and felt cool against the skin of his wrist as he showered. When he walked out, he saw a pack of cigarettes and his robes washed, probably by Hakkai because Hakkai was just that kind of guy. His kind and cheery composure made it almost hard to believe that this guy had killed one hundred demons in their sleep and became one due to his homicidal rampage.

He dressed before emerging from the shower in minutes, drying his sunshine colored hair and smoking a cigarette, "Saaaannzo……I'm hungry…", Goku whined from his place on the ground. Sanzo rolled his eyes and looked back down to his wrist where the bracelet was hidden. Having the bracelet pointed out to him again made him remember _her_ and _her_ face clearly. Sanzo had uncharacteristically kept his promise to _her_ and wore the bracelet _she_ gave him that matched _her_ own. The priest had worn it since then like a second skin, almost forgetting its existence on his wrist or in his pocket but at the same time fully aware of it. He paused to glare at the brunette lying on the floor, having discarded his shoulder pads and in only his pants and shirt. Goku's shoes were haphazardly set down by Hakkai's neatly put ones and Gojyo was still wearing his while Sanzo's was by the bed, away from the door.

Another drag on the cigarette and another cloud of smoke from his lips before the cigarette was replaced where it had been, "Whatever.", he mumbled, not really caring about food.

Goku jumped up happily, "Yay food!!", he exclaimed, practically jumping into his shoes and urging the rest, "C'mon c'mon you guys! Let's go already!", the brunette monkey king yelled to his companions. Hakkai smiled and put on his shoes while Gojyo purposely took his time getting up from his chair, just to piss off Goku and of course it was working.

Sanzo didn't pay attention to their fighting as he put on his shoes and threw the towel he had used on the bed. He slipped off the bracelet into his palm and held onto it tightly as if his life depended on it, "Idiots.", the blonde said before walking out, Goku dancing around him until his paper fan came down upon his hand, "Ow! Sanzo! What was that for!", another smack and Gojyo laughed as he exited the room before Hakkai, who held the door like the gentleman he was.

The fan came down on the redhead before he knew it, "What the hell you rogue priest!", Gojyo yelled back, rubbing his head where Sanzo had hit him. Said 'rogue priest' continued walking, the fan hidden in one of those sleeves, somewhere in that robe of his. It was really hard to imagine that this guy was a priest at all. He sat down at a table, followed by the others who didn't hesitate in ordering their food. Sanzo ordered a drink and food for himself while the others ordered, Goku ordering several things on the menu, practically drooling from thinking about the food.

Sanzo played with the bracelet in his hand under the table, still smoking his cigarette. The doors to the restaurant-lobby opened and two people walked in. One was a boy with white-tipped, black dog ears and a tail that swished as he happily trailed behind the other one. This other one was cloaked, so the gender was hard to tell as the person gracefully walked towards the check-in desk with the dog boy following, his different colored eyes seeming to glow happily. They carried no luggage other than the mysterious cloaked person carrying a black backpack. Sanzo watched them, sensing power limiters on both of them but more than one on the cloaked person, also feeling a sense of familiarity. The cloaked person handed the backpack to the dog boy who slung one strap on his shoulder and his tail continued to swish. People watched the boy and wondered what was wrong with him.

Goku watched in amazement, "Whoa that's so cool!", he said in a low voice so that the dog boy couldn't hear with his most likely superior hearing. The dog boy continued to go about, oblivious to the whispering around him. The cloaked person unzipped the torso and unbuckled the belt before shrugging out of the heavy-looking black garment. Sanzo's cigarette nearly dropped when he saw the face of the girl revealed as the hood fell off and the cloak was handed to the dog boy.

"Name please?", the man at the desk asked. She regarded the man, uninterested with him and stared apathetically, "Mavis Devereaux.", she said simply. Now Sanzo's cigarette _did_ fall down onto the ash tray, straight out of his mouth. It was _her_, it was _Mavis_.

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They arrived in town at around two in the afternoon. Luciano flew off with their things except Mavis's backpack and waited on the roof of the hotel for a signal. They thought it was fine to walk in with Isaac in the form he was in now, his human-demon form with dog ears and a swishing tail, inside. Luciano would wait on the roof with their things until they sent a mental message to him to come into the room. Mavis continued to think of Sanzo, feeling absolutely sure now that she would meet him in her travels. They came to the hotel and walked in, stared at by everyone. Mavis was about to snarl at them but then thought about what they were seeing: a boy with dog ears, a tail, and whisker marks with a mysterious cloaked figure wearing a mask and a hood that covers their eyes. Something you don't see every day.

Mavis walked up to the check-in desk to get them a room, taking off her backpack so she could get out of her cloak. It was bothering her that there were dozens of pairs of eyes burning holes in her back. Isaac didn't really mind that he was the one who gathered the most attention and was blissfully oblivious, humming to himself and swishing his goddamn tail around constantly. Finally she shrugged out of the cloak, also handing that to Isaac, and hearing a male voice after saying her name to the man behind the desk, "What's wrong? Your cigarette fell out of your mouth. Hey Sanzo?", the name echoed in her ears. For a moment, she thought she had heard wrong.

There was no way Sanzo could be here…right? Mavis turned around, only to be assaulted by the sight of none other than Genjyou Sanzo with his unruly sunshine blonde hair and droopy violet eyes which had widened at the sight of her. All she could think of was him and the bracelet around her slender wrist. Mavis stepped closer and Sanzo got a better look at her, now fully sure that it was _her_ and no one else. She looked down at him, now standing over the blonde priest who sat in his chair, and her eyes stared into his, "Sanzo.", she whispered in a questioning voice, though it was a statement and not a question.

Sanzo continued to look at her, nodding his head, "Mavis.", he said casually as if it had been only yesterday that they had seen eachother and not years. Mavis only laughed and Sanzo smiled a little.


	2. Chapter 2:Kidnapping Ends Today

_I'm so sorry! I need to make this clear!! Mavis is an original character and since there is no option on the characters list for others, I put Sanzo and Goku since they are going to be in a love triangle with her….sorry for the confusion. There might be some Yaoi in this story…but it might just be Gojyo/Hakkai and only later on…__L I'm sorry…but thank you for the reviews! However, to make up for the confusion I have caused I will soon write for FF a Sanzo/Goku Yaoi that will be more than just a little one shot. Enjoy. The Yaoi will be up soon for I am working on it after this chapter…also I do not own Saiyuki (__ßDisclaimer) Also, this chapter is shorter than the last because I want a cliffhanger :P you'll see when you read._

KitsuneLinxy

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**Later The Same Night**

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Sanzo focused on his game intently, thinking of the next move. He glared down at the cards in his hands, cigarette in his mouth and robes slipped comfortably down on his hips. The blonde kept in mind that the ultimate prize was at stake in this game, it was a matter of life or death and losing would result in a horrible fate for the priest. The prize was something all four men seated at the table desired: To sleep in luxury tonight.

The alternative to luxury was the hellish experience of having to sleep on the ground with the other loser, even though there were enough sleeping bags because usually, the consistent loser was Goku, who rolled over, drooled, talked, and all due to the discomfort he faced from being on the floor. At least from the bed, you were safe from this displeasure.

Goku threw up his cards, "Damnit!", he yelled, having been the first one to lose. Gojyo followed suit soon after, now it was a battle between an angry priest and a cheery Hakkai with a fucking white dragon perched on his green-clad shoulder for the first pick. Hakkai continued to smile, carefree as always, as he placed down a straight royal flush, beating whatever Sanzo had. The green-eyed man picked the better, more luxurious bed while Sanzo just lied down on the other one.

He turned around to see two gold orbs in the form of puppy eyes, looking at him, "What is it monkey, we've already eaten so don't say you're hungry damnit.", Sanzo glared. Goku shook his head and whimpered, "Can I have your-"

"No. You can't.", Sanzo cut him off, turning his back to him. That was final. Goku crawled away and was about to ask Hakkai until Sanzo's paper fan of doom hit him right across the back of his demon head, earning Sanzo a satisfying cry of pain. Light footsteps from the hallway and the door open, though it had been locked, to reveal Mavis with her slender arms crossed over her mature chest. She was wearing her night clothes apparently, midnight blue boxers and a lacy black top with a ribbon running under her chest and tied into a neat bow on her left side. Her blue eyes glared at him disapprovingly and then turned sympathetically to Goku.

"What?", Sanzo blurted out, uncharacteristically blunt in a way that wasn't rude, more reminiscent of a child being caught stealing cookies from the forbidden cookie jar. Mavis continued to glare at him silently, as was her way since she rarely spoke in anything more than looks and gestures. The priest crossed his arms and looked away stubbornly. More uncharacteristic actions.

Sanzo acted different with Mavis. Like earlier when he had seen her, he was very kind and open to her, though it didn't seem like much of a difference from his usual self…except to the three males that were his companions on this journey. Goku latched his arms around her legs when he got the opportunity during the brief moments when Sanzo had looked away and now buried his face into her toned calves, "Mei-chan! Sanzo is so mean to me!", he whined, using the nickname he had given her.

"Now now Goku, no need to cling to Mei-chan like that…", Hakkai warned, throwing hurried glances at Sanzo, who was steadily growing angry. Goku let go of her, standing up and leaning away a little as he turned to face the green-eyed man, so much taller than he was, "But Hakkai!", he started when a certain half-breed chimed in, "Yeah, stop molesting Mei-chan, baka saru. I bet she'd rather have a real man and sorry to point out the obvious, but that doesn't include monkey boys like you.", Gojyo laughed.

Both males also used the nickname, but Sanzo dropped the '-chan' and just called her by Mei, which came as no surprise to the others. Goku glared, "Well she likes me better!", he blurted out like a child arguing with a sibling. Sanzo was approximately six inches away from hitting Goku with his fan of doom but a hand intervened, jerking the fan out of his hand. The priest growled and looked up into the defiant blue eyes of Mavis. He suddenly felt embarrassed of himself but huffed and crossed his arms, "He's still sleeping on the floor.", he mumbled.

Mavis sent him the kind of look that said, 'I'm absolutely appalled!', which made Sanzo even more embarrassed. Shocks of jealousy ran through his body like an electric circuit when he looked at her to apologize only to be met with the scene of Goku burying his head in her chest and her petting his head and back like a mother calming her child, "Mei-chan!", he cried, hugging her tighter. Hakkai sighed, scared of what Sanzo would do, and Gojyo growled, "Hey that isn't fair you damn chimp!", he yelled. Goku replied intelligently with a tongue stuck out at the half-breed, who in turn growled at him.

Sanzo glared but looked away, 'It's okay…he'll never see her again when we leave tomorrow morn…', his thought ended there. Tomorrow they would continue their journey. It was true that Goku wouldn't see Mavis, but neither would Sanzo. The realization dawned on him so suddenly, the impact nearly broke his heart, even though he had learned throughout his life to harden it in emotionless armor but that armor had crumbled ever so slightly. Even though he would never admit it and had made it his own personal mission to keep convincing himself otherwise, the armor around his heart was being penetrated by the companions that irritated him, but still…he couldn't explain the pull that kept the four together. Although he had been ordered to bring them with him, that still didn't explain what kept the four misfits together like this.

Suddenly, the blonde became aware of eyes burning into him. Everyone in the room was looking at him since he had been still and looking down the entire time, "Sanzo…?", Goku's gentle voice called as he slowly released Mavis. Mavis herself was staring at him now, the mildly angry glare now becoming piercing blue orbs of concern and worry. Stubbornly, the priest lit another cigarette, "I'm going to smoke outside.", he mumbled, stepping past the girl who wore a bracelet like his in his desperate attempt to escape the concerned people around him.

Once outside, he went to the side of the building and sunk to the ground. It hurt. He hated this. Just end. End already, stop this stupid pain and just make me end. That's all he thought about as he angrily tangled his fingers through locks of blonde. Even though he looked tough and unaffected by life's events, inside they affected him, though usually it was only a little. Sometimes he found himself mildly worried about his rather reckless companions, especially the most reckless of them all, Goku.

Time after time, Goku would be an idiot and do something that could potentially end his life, though he was a strong youkai. Every time Sanzo caught himself worried, though it would never show outwardly, he scolded himself and thought, 'That damn monkey better not die, taking up my precious time like that.', completely convincing himself of it. The blonde remained outside, shivering slightly from the cold, and smoked as he said he would, unaware of the sky blue eyes and the golden ones that had beheld his miserable state of anger and quiet self-loathing.

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Goku walked inside, following Mavis, "Are you sure we shouldn't try to help him out?", the brunette asked, worried about the blonde man who had shown him the sun outside of his prison, the one he thought of as his savior. The black haired girl infront of him remained silent. He didn't really expect an answer. She pointed at the time, giving him a look that told him to try to understand what she was saying.

"Guess it's time to sleep…on the floor.", the thought depressed Goku further, having already been put into a depressed mood, and he sighed. Mavis touched his shoulder softly before turning for her room. A thought hit Goku which sent him running into her back before swiftly spinning her around. His gold eyes met with her startled blue ones and he grinned, "I have an idea! I'll stay in your room!", Mavis blinked and began to nod when she remembered suddenly: Luciano and Isaac were in her room and Isaac often slept in his puppy form.

How could she have forgotten? She had never forgotten much of anything before. Ever. Then again, she never had this much fun with this many people before. Maybe meeting up with Sanzo had her brain fogged. Hopefully it was temporary. Mavis sighed outwardly and sent her two companions a hurried and slightly frantic mental warning, 'You guys! Goku has', but she was stopped when the brunette sped past her, without an answer, towards her room. Mavis tried to stop him but a familiar voice reached her, "What are you two doing?", she turned to the speaker.

His blonde hair was as unruly as always with his droopy violet eyes. No signs of what had just occurred before showed and now he was casually holding another cigarette. Mavis smiled nervously before a gust of wind rushed by her, "Sanzo!", Goku yelled, speeding towards the blonde but was received with a hand in his face, "What's wrong with you!?", he asked.

Goku looked up, opening his mouth to say that he saw Sanzo just now but Mavis touched his arm and spoke instead, "Just a little worried because you left like that. We were just waiting for you to come back."

"Idiots.", was his mumbling reply, though he was relieved that they hadn't seen his little episode on the side of the building. Sanzo opened the door, Gojyo having gone out to drink with women most likely and Hakkai sitting up on the bed, "I'm going to bed.", he mumbled before putting out his cigarette and burying himself in the covers. Goku blinked, looking at him with a confused look before Isaac and a man he hadn't seen before burst out of Mavis and Isaac's room.

One more blink before Goku was tackled down by them. He got a good look at the mysterious man who had long black hair and green eyes, "What did you do to Mavis!?", Isaac demanded, flashing his intimidating teeth and glaring with savage eyes. Goku, however, wasn't intimidated and spat back, "What the hell are you talking about!?"

"Close the door damnit!", a flying object hit Isaac in the head. Hakkai walked over, bowed and apologized, "Sorry.", before closing the door so that Sanzo wouldn't throw anything else. Goku stood up and brushed himself off while Mavis just sighed, "You guys….he didn't do anything to me but thanks to your idiocy, it doesn't matter what I was going to say.", Mavis crossed her arms and walked away into her room, followed by the three.

She crawled into her bed and before Goku could ask, she interrupted, "Just drop the subject. Please.", Mavis yawned before feeling warmth behind her, the weight of the person depressing the mattress ever so slightly. She turned around, staring at Goku as he crawled into the bed, on top of the blanket instead of under with her, and curl up comfortably, resting his head on the pillow. Isaac growled but curled up more like a puppy under his blanket while Luciano sat down close to Mavis's bedside.

"I don't understand but I don't care about them.", he mumbled. Goku closed his eyes, reopening them suddenly when he felt a soft hand in his hair, "You'll catch a cold, baka.", she mumbled sleepily. Goku shrugged and crawled under the covers with her, curling up once more and cuddling up to her.

'He's into physical contact I suppose. Must be because he has been imprisoned for so long…', she thought. Goku himself had told her about his imprisonment and how it was Sanzo who took him away from that place. Mavis stroked his cheek as his mind wandered somewhere between sleep and being awake.

"Ne, Mei-chan…", Goku's eyelids felt heavier, "Why don't you come with us…on our…jour…ney….", he fell asleep quickly, his breathing steady. Amazingly, he didn't snore because he was comfortable with her but already he began to mumble things about food in his sleep. Typical of him. Mavis got comfortable as Luciano turned out the lights.

Luciano slept against the wall between the two beds but even with his supernatural angelic senses, he couldn't see the shadowy figure crawl through the window and close it silently. Mavis was slowly falling asleep, usually she would be waiting to receive a mission at this time but she mentally reminded herself that she had left the island. The shadow crept closer until it was standing over her bedside. Mavis turned around, thinking it was Luciano, but quickly saw that it wasn't.

Instead of screaming like the typical damsel in distress, she growled and began shouting a very colorful string of curses non-stop, loud enough to wake Goku from his slumber, while she struggled with the person, who's strong arms held her firmly. Isaac and Luciano were up and ready to fight. Hurried footsteps from the hall distracted the three boys as Sanzo, Hakkai, and the newly returned Gojyo burst into the room.

The shadow seemed to become two different people with the same silver eyes. By the time attention was returned to Mavis and the two figures, they were gone through the window, the curtains flowing in the wind. A note on the bed said, Cemetery. Sanzo Party Only. Dawn. Sanzo ran to the window after reading this and looked around the street, but saw nothing. Goku slammed his fist into the wall, careful not to break it, and the tension in the room grew.

"Are we going?", was Hakkai's soft question, though he already knew the answer when Sanzo shot him a deadly glare, "Hell yes."


	3. Chapter 3:Undead Brothers

_I was originally planning to have her older brother come and kidnap her for his stupid reasons but decided not to. Tyler's personality is like Tamaki Suoh in OHSHC, which reminds me….I've had the desire to write a fan fic for that, which would be a first, but I'd have to work out pairings and what Haruhi is doing and her role…etc. All that is tiring and I would like to save such work for another day, when I suddenly get an Ouran-inspired burst of creativity :D I hope you like this. It took me two days (I think) to get it finished and revised to my satisfaction, or at least close to it. I'm insatiable. Anyways, enjoy my lovelies and feel free to praise me. I've gotten a few ideas from you guys. Now, gerigeri, to answer you. It might be like that for a while but I'm planning to span this lovely fic for a while. I was also thinking to make it a love square (for your enjoyment Chaoswitch, thnx for the tip. Much appreciated.) with Kougaiji because he's hot like that. It would provide more drama…also…how do you guys feel about Nataku paying a visit in the future? I love opinions, they help me when I get stuck. Minna daisuki! This chapter should be in horror movie scene(s)!_

_Your one true love :P KitsuneLinxy_

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Of course. This kind of thing is _supposed _to happen isn't it? Just when Mavis thought she might sleep comfortably for once, just once is all she wanted, one lovely night of perfectly undisturbed, comfortable sleep in a hotel room, on top of the bed, under warm covers, with Son Goku as a most unexpected bonus abundance of warmth, but no. Life just had to do this. Now Mavis found herself in a _little_ bit of a predicament. Okay, maybe a _little_ was a horrible term to use to describe her situation, which wasn't exactly as _little_ as the word itself made it out to be. She was cuffed by special cuffs that refused to allow her to use her powers, continuously sending waves of electricity through out her body, and was surrounded by people. In normal situations, she didn't enjoy the company of people. This _abnormal _situation was no exception and though it didn't show in her very apathetic face, Mavis was growing irritated. Especially since they continued to urge her to speak. It was worse than the clan members' constant pestering.

They smelled of the earth that dirtied their bare feet, the long tunics of rags and patches stitched horribly together, their matted hair which was in desperate need of a heavy duty wash, and their pale faces. Judging by their slender frames, they didn't eat much at all and their hands were scarred from burns, only a few make-shift bandages covered the burns, though not much at all. It was bad enough to be bound to a tombstone in some filthy cemetery of dead bodies in the company of _people_, which on its own crushed the filthiness of the entire damned cemetery, rank smells and all, in a competition on the female's nerves of steel, but to be in the company of such people who didn't take care of themselves properly, let alone take care of their prisoner in any way at all. To make things worse, she had the beginning to a song stuck in her head. The hyperactive phrase _Chu chu lovely muni muni mura _and replayed in her already aching head.

She was sleepy, irritable, cold, bored, slightly hungry, and very uncomfortable with her bag on this jagged stone pillar behind her. If Mavis were to sit up straight, her head would end up colliding with the foot of the angel on top of this once extravagant stone pillar of a gravestone, which was outstretched from the pillar because for whatever reason, the artist just _had_ to make the angel look about to take a step. The angel itself was beautiful, though dusty and missing half its face, an entire arm, and a deteriorating ugliness in the remaining arm with mold beginning to claim the very damaged regions like the damp moss that claimed the southern regions of the pillar the angel stood on. Idly, Mavis began to wonder how she had wronged someone, somewhere, bad enough to deserve such horrid luck to be out in the cold just before dawn, deprived all night by the ones keeping her, in shorts and a top, neither of which did much for keeping her body warm at all, with cuffs making her wrists seep warm blood onto the grave of a once living man or woman.

If Mavis had cared, she would go through the painful process of turn her head around while arching her bed to get a view of the name that had probably been erased by time, but since she didn't care at the moment due to her mind working for some kind of solution to help her conclude her horrible night, though she couldn't come up with one. Apparently, these revolting creatures, powerful youkai who were sane but bitter, held very clever yet devious minds underneath their rather misleading appearance. They _had_ to be sinister, there was no other way, to keep Mavis here for _no_ reason. To Mavis, they were _sane_ but not _sane__. _Yes, there was a difference. They were _sane_ in terms that they didn't go berserk with bloodlust like most youkai without power limiters but not _sane_ as in _not in their right minds_ like normal people _should_ be. But of course, due to Mavis's luck, she always attracted the worst trouble _and_ was continuously forced to deal with people were _far_ from normal. As she thought on this, her captors were conversing.

"Will they _really_ come?", asked what seemed to be the younger one of the two and the more innocent of the dark-haired, silver-eyed duo. According to what Mavis heard when they talked to each other while she _'slept'_, the younger one was Kei and the older one was Kai. Lovely. Judging by their similar features, they must be brothers.

"I am sure of it. We have observed the Sanzo priest's actions around this hybrid being and unless our comprehension of human behavior is incorrect, he should be here at the correct time with his three companions. Then we will threaten the hybrid being in order to gather the secret of bringing life to the dead from him. After that, we will be able to rise mother from the dead and in doing so, also bring us back to life."

'_Ah, so they are spirits with the ability to assume physical form. Interesting.'_, Mavis thought, observing the older one, _Kai_. He was obviously the leader of the two brothers, which was natural being the older sibling though Mavis was seen to be the leader of every group she was in, even if she was the one serving others, though that was a rare occurrence.

Kai's long, matted hair was as unruly and thick as his younger brother's, though longer. Mavis nearly laughed when her sensitive ears had registered the last statement. The secret to rising the dead was a dark art, nearly forgotten and risky to even masters of the art. A Sanzo priest didn't have that power. In no generation have they ever had that power. Mavis let out a rueful laugh, also feeling slight pity for the brothers. They had so horribly confused the power of the scripture for the power of the dark scroll, a scroll that dictated the most forbidden and risky spells and rituals of the dark arts, such as rising the dead from their eternal sleep. Magic couldn't raise the dead for more than mere moments nor could science or the two combined. Not even Mavis, being a master of the dark arts, could accomplish such a feat.

The brothers had very different reactions to this laugh. Kei turned around and glared at the young girl tied to the large, eccentric gravestone, "What the hell are you laughing at, wench!?", the dead boy inquired furiously. Mavis analyzed all body language, watching them carefully since she didn't much study the powers and capabilities of dead spirits able to take corporeal form. Something she should probably look up later, though taking a mental note like that wouldn't do much to help her if they became hostile. Although it wasn't a very wise move on her part, Mavis allowed herself a taunting smirk coupled with a mocking glint reflecting her eyes. This was enough to make Kei mad enough, seeing as he began to stand, ready to jump, until his brother shot him a glare, making him sit back down immediately. Such a hold he has over his brother.

The dead-undead brothers were both perched on tombstones, Kei in a more casual position with long legs swinging in the air and lying back to pout at the sky, his slender torso propped up by dirty elbows, while his brother Kai sat with his long, left leg dangling from the tombstone, back relaxed and leaned forward onto his palm. The palm was propped up from the bent elbow of his right arm that connected onto the bent knee of his casually pulled up knee, his right foot keeping him steady and his hand covered the lower half of his face until he moved it as he unbent his elbow, letting his hand hang lazily, the other hand gripping the tombstone, not clenching, just in a very relaxed, casual grip.

In response to Mavis and the expression she held, mocking them with her facial expression and unwavering silence, Kai merely allowed eye contact, his glare and her taunting eyes, never giving away her emotions. If she ever felt fear, which the intelligent boy highly doubted there ever was fear in this creature he and his brother had captured or if she was even _capable_ of fear, seeing as to how she always appeared rather emotionless, it never showed in her eyes.

'_Obviously, she has been conditioned to never betray the unwanted emotions through facial expression and eye contact. Very skilled. We may be in for more than we wished for.'_, Kai thought to himself rationally. His brother began to him to himself a lullaby with his eyes closed, swaying his head side to side melodically to soothe himself. Immediately, Kai recognized the lullaby. It was something he would never be able to mistake for something else. This lullaby is something mother sang to them when they were all alive, just before going to sleep.

_Mother…_

The lone thought pierced the intelligent boy's dead heart. His left hand went to his chest, where he couldn't feel a heartbeat even though he heard the imagined one in the back of his head, as if to make the pain stop by physically guarding the heart. It was only then that he felt eyes on him as he did this gesture. Mavis was still staring at him, the taunting expression replaced with her apathetic expression, something they had already gotten used to._ 'This girl is the weirdest person…'_, Kai thought. When they had been kidnapping her, she didn't resist much and didn't say anything since her loud stream of curses in the hotel room, during which Kai reminded Kei to not repeat such language. Even though they were undead brothers living in a revolting cemetery among the dead with nothing but the sounds of the night and rotting bodies in the dirt to keep them company, Kai made sure to teach his brother all the manners Kai had lived with all his life.

He could feel power from Mavis, a dark, brooding aura of power and demon blood, but also something else that he had felt before, when his mother…he shook of the memories. Fact was, this girl had the potential to become pure evil and thus rule the world under a shroud of darkness using her powers, which remained unknown to Kai. It also puzzled him that during the kidnapping, she hadn't bothered to use said powers. He could feel the protective auras of power-limiters, but the girl, whom he still didn't know the name of, should be able to use magic. Perhaps she didn't want to display such powers? Why wouldn't she? Usually those with powers like that flaunt it, especially humans who possessed meager abilities. Nothing compared to this girl.

Kai turned from Mavis crossing his arms casually. A small flame struck his foot, causing him to jump and nearly yelp until he came to the conclusion that it had been Mavis. His brother jumped to his aid, "Kai!", Kei glared at Mavis, who was as genuinely surprised at the random act of pyre flame that burned Kai's toe as the two brothers, though also amused, until she seemed to realize something and stop her silent laughing. Kei immediately went to her, despite Kai's calls, then grabbed her by the throat roughly, pulling her up ever so slightly but leaning down so that he didn't accidentally break the cuffs that kept her unable to use magic, since Kai had said he felt magic power from her. Mavis simply stared at him, unwaveringly cold and the fire of her mild anger made him shiver, for a moment thinking of just putting her down, but didn't, "What did you do!?", he received no answer, which didn't surprise him in the least, and glared, "Answer me damnit!", Kei yelled in her face. Kai sighed, "Kei, she didn't do it. Those cuffs prevent her from it.", he pointed out, though his brother continued to glare at Mavis, who stared back coldly, unafraid.

"Then she knows who did!", Kei yelled back to his brother, not tearing his eyes from Mavis. He was completely right, though being who she was, Mavis wouldn't say so or betray the thought in her eyes. Mavis knew _exactly_ who did this and was outraged that he would_ dare_ to come here, even _if_ he said he would. Kai saw the anger in her eyes, for a moment fearful that she would lash out at Kei, but soon observed that her rage wasn't directed at him or his brother at the moment, which was weird since she was most likely in a lot of discomfort. Kei soon, unceremoniously and roughly, dropped the girl onto the hard ground of their mother's grave, and Kai glared before very cautiously making his way to her, afraid that flames would rise up and kill him. Those flames had a banishing seal on them, meaning if he or Kei were engulfed in their multi-colored pyre, they would be sent to heaven, hell, or the legendary _purgatory_. Mavis glowered at the boy approaching her on silent footsteps.

All she knew of these types were that they could become invisible or assume their natural ghostly form to go through things. She had already attuned her acute senses to spiritual contact, now fine-tuning her senses to distinguish these two among the mess of other ghosts, wandering and unable to find their way towards the light or not really wanting to go, just wandering. Not speaking to her, maybe talking to themselves or reliving their last days and nights every day. Some were in denial about being dead. She sympathized with them but wasn't like her friend Cecil, who had the ability to convince them to move on. It was his talent and area of magical expertise. Mavis struggled with the cuffs one last time, mourning for her sealed powers which and dreading how she wasn't able to give Kei a good hit in his ghostly jewels.

Even if they can't have kids, it still hurt. To touch a ghost, as Cecil had taught her one day when she asked about how he held hands with ghosts to usher them towards gates that only the blind Cecil could see, you need to use a special kind of spell. He taught her this of course, even a the shorter, easier version of the incantation and other words to use as extensions to command. Cecil had taught her that she should use a persuasion spell, one that he had showed her and invented himself, to convince and soothe them easier before starting the special spell. Mavis sighed and observed Kai, who cautiously, and smartly so, kneeled by her out of her head butting, lashing, biting, and thrashing reach at her left shoulder, a little behind the gravestone, ready to use it as a shield in case. Even with her flexible body, she couldn't lift her leg up like that with enough force to hurt him plus the cuffs sealed off her power, though she could tell it was weakening as he fazed out a little, becoming a ghost but visible, keeping approximately 9 of the physical substance from his tangible form which was concentrated evenly into his hands, 4.5 for both hands. If only this ghost would move behind her, close to her hands. By doing so, he would be putting himself in a vulnerable position because the cuffs blocked off all magic except in her hands. Of course, she _could_ light a fire in the trees but doing that wouldn't get her out of these cuffs.

If she could assume complete control over Kai, she could force him to release her _and_ she would gain a prisoner, giving her an advantage against his brother Kei, who was completely devoted to his older sibling. Mavis kept quiet, the natural steel wall up around her thoughts without being provoked by a probe or magical spell, deeply wrapped into her own mind, her brain racking itself for ideas on how to escape, coming up with several plans but all these _needed_ control over the boy, Kai. Suddenly, fire struck the trees blocking the murky sunlight of dawn from warming her shivering form, multi-colored fire in blues, oranges, reds, yellows, and purples sprung from the burning branches and leaves. Mavis could've sworn she'd seen green flames on some fallen branches in the mess. Spirits were sucked into the vortexes that swirled in the core of the flames.

These vortexes worked as supernatural cores to the flames, often giving them different colors than normal fires, and were basically gateways to four places-Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and the Higher Heaven, where gods and goddesses sat lazily, watching the Earth below as they always did-according to color. The green was for the Higher Heaven, as her clan members often called it other than its other name, purple for purgatory, blue for Heaven, and orange, yellow, and red for Hell. Often, the color order would change or it would become silver or white, meaning that they would be taken to some other place until further judgment was bestowed to them. It was the more lenient half of purgatory and in dreams, Mavis had been to all of the planes except Higher Heaven because she usually woke up before arriving. Besides, she didn't sleep too much anyways, as seen before and was known all throughout the village. Now, she was angry. Very angry in fact, but surprisingly her anger wasn't directed at the ghost boys holding her. It was the _idiot_ that sent up those fires. She _knew_ who _he_ was and was now angry at how utterly_ reckless _that man was. Or boy as she _should_ say. Mavis shook her head as Kei and Kai avoided the burning debris raining down on them, of course avoiding Mavis and, as she now noticed without having to make the observation obvious, the tree behind her.

'_Someone's in that tree_._'_, was all she really thought on the matter. So, this is the rescue attempt. How artistic and lovely…not really. Seriously, even Mavis, the less expressive of anyone in contact with anyone, ever, could pull of a much more theatrical and otherwise, _better_, rescue attempt, and she uses the word _attempt_ because things could always go wrong. Life just bites you in the ass like that. Eventually, the fires were growing weaker and Mavis knew why. Of course, Kai, being the very intelligent ghost he was, knew as well and decided to state it out loud for the benefit of his scared brother, "Whoever is doing this is avoiding hurting the woman, meaning this is an attempt to rescue her and to eliminate us. I sense that this person is impatient, over-protective, and is currently angry. This is a male who cannot enter the barrier but has enough power to be able to light the fires inside the barrier to perhaps harm us. But he is being too reckless. If by some mishap, he could kill her and we would not have a sacrifice to raise mother and return to us our corporeal bodies.", Mavis couldn't help but laugh and resist her ever-growing desire to point out that she had already surmised this assumption, confirmed the identity of said person, _and_ had already pinpointed seven people. Four inside the barrier, two on either side of the gates outside the cemetery's barrier, and one, the one who lit the pyres, in a clock tower behind the cemetery, which was also behind her with perfect view of her, the two ghost boys, and the six other people in their assumed positions. Mavis even knew who was who and where.

Gradually, the fires disappeared. This was the cue for the four to appear. Mavis's deduction was confirmed as correct when none other than the show-off Son Goku, an excited grin gracing his tan features, jumped from the tree behind her to assume his fighting stance infront of her, also providing distance between Mavis and her captors. She had expected it to be him and, sure enough from behind a monument, more recent than the rest of the stone artwork here, walked a certain blonde priest with violet eyes, pissed off as ever, gun pointed at the ghost boys, who stood close together, silently fighting in slow, cautious movements of getting infront of one and that one pushing the other behind them, the cycle continuing until they compromised to be standing back to back, side ways so that their sides showed to Mavis and Goku and their other side showing to Sanzo. A good tactic to help give them an even view of who came out. Hakkai walked in casually from the left, looking as if he appeared from the early fog of dawn like a ghost himself, wearing a worried expression that changed to relieved once he saw Mavis was fine, and Gojyo appeared swinging his weapon casually, a cigarette newly lit in his mouth, seeming to suddenly appear from the fog like Hakkai had, greeting Mavis with a simply jerk of his chin. Gojyo had the same excited sparkle in his eye as Goku, both always were ready to fight as it seemed, often complaining of how great their boredom was without the constant demons challenging them.

Kei was shaking, not from fear but from the rage that was boiling over in his heart, which Kai registered quickly, "Kei.", he said in a commanding tone. That was all he needed to say to snap him out of it, causing him to proceed rationally, as they both straightened in unison looking like twins when they faced the armed priest. Isaac and Luciano made themselves known outside the barrier, Luciano to the left and Isaac to the right. Mavis didn't show any outward signs of relief or expectance on her face, but inside she had no doubt that this plan was a collaboration between her intelligent familiar and her best friend, the rogue priest. Such a lovely combination. Isaac himself was brimming with anger, the energy seeming to pool out of him, seeping straight from his core, sinking into the dirt then coming back up through the ground into him once more. His nose was wrinkled from the stenches that assaulted his sensitive, canine nose, and his ears were more pointed back than usual. Isaac was angry and it showed in his glowing eyes turned from blue and gold to blood red with thick slits for pupils, the whisker marks on his sun-tanned features seemed to become deepened and thicker than usual. His claws were longer on both his hands and bare feet, wearing some old jean shorts, frayed at the ends, and a simple grey t-shirt, no doubt modified with magic to last with him through the transformation from man to wolf, like a werewolf but in a different way since he was originally a wolf that could turn into a man and a pup.

Luciano was seething with anger in his own way. Silent. Glaring. Observant as always. One hand casually held his arm above his elbow, which Mavis saw upon closer inspection that Luciano was clutching his arm, ripping holes into the long suit coat, crisp white shirt underneath with the turned up collar sown together and a black tie around it. Slim black pants accompanied this and black shoes of scuffed leather with soles, heels, and toes reinforced with steel covered his feet. Mavis could see that his skin had blanched, a sickly pale in place of his normal, sun-kissed skin. Luciano shot her a worried glance before narrowing his eyes at the brothers, who were working hard to concentrate on something with their eyes closed.

"We are sorry that it had to come to this.", Kai said softly, running right hand through the air as he turned to the right, as if he was running his fingers along a scythe pointed to the right, turning with it. His brother mirrored this action but was the first to slowly raise his hands upwards before him as if he were going to do push-ups on the air, palms straight and fingers stiff. They began to chant softly in rapid Latin that even Mavis couldn't catch, their ghostly pale lips barely moving as they did so. Goku tilted his head at them until all around, corpses at all stages of deterioration arose from their graves and before Sanzo could shoot, he was thrown back by invisible forces, his gun sliding out of reach into the hand that suddenly shot up from the grave to grab it. These invisible forces were the leftover spirits, left unvanquished by the earlier pyres. The gates closed and a shroud of darkness obscured the skin a from view. Luciano and Isaac beat furiously on the dark dome, only visible to them and the fire user who shot flames at the dome as well from his tower, but it was to now avail since the dome healed itself when they punctured it, plus the barrier was still up, so even if they made a large enough gash in the dome, they could not pass the protective barrier underneath. Inside, Gojyo's cigarette dropped and he was suddenly alert as well as Hakkai. Dead hands forced their way up through the ground beneath Sanzo and began to grab at him, constantly forcing him to roll away or stand, kicking away at the hands and heading towards the half skeleton, have rotten body holding his gun, shooting at the other three. A pentacle of midnight blue and purple surrounded the two chanting brothers, who didn't even open their eyes to witness the spectacle of the undead roaming the graveyard.

To ungifted outsiders, the grave was as usual with two males sitting on the ground crestfallen, though their sense of defeat would be mistaken as mourning for a lost one, though no one was up this early to see anyways. Mavis growled, "Raising the dead is forbidden like this is forbidden in every sense. The dead aren't even alive…just controlled like disgusting and decaying puppets, easy to manipulate without remaining souls to fight the control…", she breathed sharply, gritting her teeth, bracing for the body underneath her to spring up and grab her. No such thing occurred, which confirmed another one of her deductions, _'So, this is their mother's grave.'_, she thought, then watched Goku thrown by invisible spirits away from her. She was helpless, completely vulnerable though Kei and Kai couldn't kill her. That would erase all chances of a successful revival, even though they had confused the scripture for the scroll which had been lost forever in a fire, deliberately destroyed after the reign of Takuheikama; a tyrant mage of darkness who went insane with power and somehow resembled Mavis, since _he_ was actually a _she_ that looked like Mavis, or so she had been told; thousands of years ago, though some believed the scroll lived somewhere.

Mavis thrashed and growled as her struggling drew blood from the wounds induced by the cuffs cutting her skin. Sanzo was banishing waves of these corpses with his scripture, but new waves of these creatures returned, accompanied by large creatures of Earth and Shadow who towered over the priest and his fighting companions. Hakkai was using energy attacks, Gojyo using the blade on its chain and Goku attacking them. Every time a corpse was destroyed, about five others took that corpse's place, _'Replication.'_, Mavis thought bitterly, _'Will we survive this dawn of the undead or will they become the undead and I as a sacrifice…?'_, she thought and thrashed more, twisting and rolling her shoulders in an attempt to dislocate them, thus giving her more of a reached. If she could just knock one of the brothers out of the circle, then the spell would lose power and Mavis could funnel the power in her hands to her feet to control whichever brother she took. Kei was definitely the target for being weaker mentally than his brother thus easier to control though his sheer will could very well break her,_ 'It's worth a shot…'_, Mavis thought and continued her attempts.

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_Cliffhanger!_


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